About

When life gives you lemons, ask for kiwis. Make that a PURPLE kiwi. Change your mind 3.28 seconds later. Demand for the lemons back. But! Without the lemon inside. Then ball your eyes out because the lemons are not pink.

Insist on only pink lemon. No, wait. Don’t want lemons anymore. Not the normal, oval ones. Just lemons. But octagonal. And pink.

Because, with our 2 little critters under 5 and our 3 not-so-normal cats, we have come to expect the occasional unexpected warped logic. Cutest things on earth, but they drive me up the wall!

Add that to a decade of our “temporary stay” in Bangkok earning our bread and butter as the clueless foreigners where Thai logic applies (I coin it Thaism), making it that much more perplexing. It does qualify us to give you some insights on Thailand, though!

A little bit about me

I’m a mutt. I hail from Singapore with a mixed Javanese-Japanese-Portuguese parentage who spends an unhealthy amount of time slaving away in a perceived-to-be glam-insanely-demanding ad industry. (which explains my penchant towards posting the occasional post-worthy ad).

I live for lyrics and quotes, appreciate witty sarcasm and would thoroughly enjoy the warped humour in Calvin & Hobbes. Although I couldn’t work a DSLR for my life, I greatly appreciate photography and the skills that go behind it.

My husband, Silver Bullet, is Dutch; making our young kids, Spud (born in 2008) and Squirt (born in 2010), a breed of authentic “muttified” mishmash. Their antics have contributed much to the colours in this blog and I worry if they would ever find their roots

Sometimes, I pretend that I have everything under control when my life is actually falling apart.

My therapy? Giving myself time-out in the kitchen to bake or whip-up yummilicious meals of Singaporean-Malaysian-Indonesian culinary influence, inspired by my Mom’s home-style fares. Grubs (my endearing term for food) are my poison, hence the term Grubbecipes for all my recipes found in this blog.

Have I mentioned the kids drive me up the wall yet?

My Blog

This is a personal lifestyle blog covering my colourful and topsy-turvy world of our life in Thailand and the odd characters I meet or work with, parenting, my passion for cooking, reading and everything else in between that suit my fancy. Rants and the occasional shoe-whoring included.

This is my life in an orgnanised chaos of trying to be a super-wonder working Mom, juggling life. It will not be girlie and oozing cuteness. The colour Pink is OUT and so are politics. Neither will it be always upbeat where everything is just great and picture perfect.

Instead, I’ll give you the low-down of things and tell you like it is, with minimal sugar coating. With parenting, I’ll share anecdotal accounts of my parenting challenges with my little critters, Spud and Squirt. Things that people don’t usually talk about so openly; sometimes, with a little exaggeration. And I’ll tell you when I do – just to make the point so you can roll your eyeballs like I sometimes do.

Like the lemon excerpt above.

I believe there is a trove of information to be discovered on my site from my archives . I hope you find them useful to help you navigate this confusing, frustrating yet joyful experience of parenting and living life outside a comfort zone as a sleep-deprived working mother trying to do it all.

I hope my stories will give you some perspectives on stuff for when things get just too confusing. And I hope you leave my page with at least a smile on your face.

I’m not that far from you and your beautiful family as it happens – tell your husband to check out the Pickled Liver bar on Soi 7 (off Sukhumvit) – English pub, very very nice – no bar girlies hanging around – just a good solid English bar and run by an English chap called Nick.

Since your husband is Dutch he’s bound to like a beer and sport – seriously, tell him to try it out – it really isn’t your “usual” BKK bar.

Well Hello Ann and GANG! LOL.
Wanted to Thank You for coming by my blog, and most likely due to Mr. Harsh Reality?? He is an awesome recovery supporter of mine XO. So yes, I live life in recovery almost 9 years, but I do have another wonderful WP blog, as I am a Book Blogger & Book Promoter for myself and other fine new authors.

So come by sometime and learn about some great new reads here: http://anauthorandwriterinprogress.wordpress.com
I’m a Kitty Lover as well, and yours are beautiful. And by the photo’s, looks like you have a beautiful family as well! I’m a new follow fan!

Hi Catherine! Yes, I believe I saw a tweet from Harsh Reality and I had a pop over. 😀 You are doing great!
Thanks for the kind words and leaving your comments. Really appreciate it! I’ll definitely be going over to your blog often! 🙂

Thank you , Novice Mum! It’s words like yours that continue to keep me motivated to keep going. Life is a mixed match indeed. Thank you for the kind words and taking the time to drop a comment. HIghly appreciated! Have a wonderful day!:)

Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting
a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a outstanding job!

Awesome!! I love award nominations and of course I don’t mind it at all! I graciously accept it – only it will take a bit longer before I’ll write about it. But yes, I will definitely get to it. Thank you so much, Safar for the kind nomination. I’m honoured!!!

Top notch blog post.Thanx just for publishing this specific useful posting in addition to enlightening us with your perspectives.I am hoping you will definitely carry on this kind of good work in future as well.

Ann I only saw your question now Ann ! I speak Swedish and read and understand some German. We “learned German” for five years at school. Unfortunately I didn’t listen or wanted to learn German having grown up after the shadows of the WWII

Oooh I am sooo glad I decided to check out your website right away !! I was a lil drowsy and had some work pending, but your about me totally jolted out of my sleepiness and here I am grinning ear to ear 😀 I just love how you twisted that lemon saying into something so much funny and relatable 😀 And the names of your kids !! OMG ! Aren’ they the cutest <3 <3 Both the names and your kids <3
And am so jealous your therapy is cooking 😛 You won't believe how much I whine to cook just for me and my hubby even when half of the times he only does it 😛
I also adore Calvin n Hobbes , am pathetic with a DSLR though I love to pose 😛 but I would beg to differ about the color pink 😀 I loveee Pink and yes I am a girlie girl types !!! But still glad you could relate with me and paid my blog a visit 🙂 Would love to connect with you more in the world of blogs and boy haven I rambled on 😛 Hope you have a lovely week ahead. Cheers and Warmest wishes, Minaxi <3

Thank you for dropping by Minaxi! You sound very bubbly and I like it! Glad I managed to help you get out of your drowsiness with my about. LOL. It’s a great compliment! 😀 Calvin and Hobbes is great and I absolutely have no issues with people liking pink. I just don’t like it myself but my daughter has been into pink for a long time now and I just sigh my big sigh…I realise I can’t run away from it. LOL. Really nice to meet you and I’ll be popping over to yours too. Here’s to a great week to you too! x. 😀

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About Me

About this blog

A mother of two currently living in an organised chaos. Has "temporarily" lived in Bangkok for 11 years and now settling in The Netherlands.

A rebel at heart, a non-conformist and a semi-reformed workaholic. Used to globe-trot for work and now a part-time SAHM. Passionate about home-cooking and addicted to coffee. Still severely sleep-deprived.

My blog is a mish-mash of things; from gastro-related topics, to anecdotal accounts of motherhood and parenting, to travels and life in Thailand and The Netherlands, as well as everything else in between.

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